Paws Up!

From Solid Cat: Feel-Good-A-PaloozaWillowgrove School
Willowgrove School in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, instituted the "Buddy Bench" to very encouraging results. The green bench on their playground is meant for any child to sit on during recess when he or she needs a friend to play with and feel included during playground games.

As one kid said, "If you can't find your best friends, and you don't know where to go play, you sit on the buddy bench, and somebody will come and find you." Once a kid sits on the bench, it's like sending out a silent signal that they need to be included. And it's working very well.

To Willowgrove School, for finding a way to make sure all kids are included in the fun, we salute you. PAWS UP!

Paws Up! BONUSPhyllis Shaughnessy
With schools closed until classes resume in her rural Washington State community, Phyllis Shaughnessy knows that kids who receive free or subsidized cafeteria meals during the academic year may go without during the long summer months.

So, stocked with more than 200 sack lunches a day and a core of volunteers to help pack them, Monday through Friday, the great-grandma stepped up this summer to help deliver 6,851 meals, and counting, direct to their doors.

To Phyllis Shaughnessy, for seeing a need and filling it, we salute you. PAWS UP!

Paws Up! BONUSWilliam Gadoury
William Gadoury is a 15-year-old student from Quebec who has discovered an ancient Mayan city without leaving his province's borders.

The kid's hobby is all things Mayan. During his research, Gadoury examined 22 Mayan constellations and discovered that if he projected those constellations onto a map, the shapes corresponded perfectly with the locations of 117 Mayan cities. Incredibly, the 15-year-old was the first person to establish this important correlation, and suggested where they might be a yet-to-be discovered Mayan city. Satellite images later confirmed that, indeed, geometric shapes visible from above imply that an ancient city with a large pyramid and thirty buildings stands exactly where Gadoury said they would be.

To William Gadoury, for looking at things from a fresh perspective, and actually finding history, we salute you. PAWS UP!

From Solid Cat: Joshua TreeNational Park Service
The National Park Service is celebrating 100 years in 2016. If you know us, you know we love our parks, and part of the centennial celebration is encouraging people to go out and find their park.

To the National Park Service, for protecting our wonders, and telling our stories, for 100 years and counting, we salute you. PAWS UP!

From Solid Cat: Post-CoitalZalec, Slovenia
In order to pay homage to the regional industry, and to drum up tourism, a city in Slovenia will be building a fountain, but instead of water, it will be a fountain of beer.

To Emily Duffy, for seeing a need and coming up with fresh solutions, we salute you. PAWS UP!

From Solid Cat: 2016 Winter PremierePhilippe Morgese
Philippe Morgese is a single dad started out using just simple barrettes with his daughter, Emma. Then, he polished his skills to learn how to do pigtails and even complex braids. He got so many compliments and even requests for advice from fellow dads that he started a class to teach fathers how to do their daughters' hair.

To Philippe Morgese, for helping dads connect in a small way with their daughters, we salute you. PAWS UP!

From Solid Cat: SizzleJonathan Montanez
Peter Morales, the coach of the Coronado Thunderbirds in El Paso, TX, wanted to surprise Mitchell Marcus, the team manager who is developmentally disabled, by putting him in the game -- whether the team won or lost.

That's cool in and of itself, but then enter Jonathan Montanez, a player on the opposing team who ensured this tale had a happy ending.

To Jonathan Montanez, for doing something so small, that was really a supreme act of humanity, we salute you. PAWS UP!

From Solid Cat: September MusingsHart Main
18-year-old Hart Main doesn't look like the stereotypical demographic for fancy scented candles: he's a guy, first of all. His scented candle company, ManCans, makes scented candles in tin soup cans. They come in scents like Grandpa's Pipe, New Mitt, Santa's Beard, and Memphis Style BBQ.

The best part about this is that Main buys canned soup and donates the soup to the local soup kitchen. The can is cleaned, and the label is removed. Then the candle is made in the can.

To Hart Main, for creating something different and being absolutely ingenious about it, we salute you. PAWS UP!

From Solid Cat: Medieval TimesAustralia Rugby
For many children in rugby-loving countries, playing professional rugby alongside your sports heroes is a dream that most will sadly never realize. One 4-year-old, however, recently got the pro rugby memory of a lifetime.

It happened at a charity game featuring all-star ex-players from New South Wales and Queensland in a match known as "Legends of League." Somehow, this bold kid managed to find his way on to the pitch and instead of trying to usher him off, the players from both teams give him an amazing moment of glory.